# Lexabrief documentation > Lexabrief is an AI workspace for anyone working a California case. You bring the record, an agent named Lexa researches and drafts against it, and every quotation it writes is checked against the source it came from. This file is the complete public documentation, generated from the same source as the pages at https://lexabrief.com/docs, so it cannot say something different from what a person reads there. Lexabrief is a tool for legal professionals, operated through an AI assistant named Lexa. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice; users are responsible for reviewing its output. Work is isolated to each account. --- # Documentation Lexabrief is an AI workspace for anyone working a California case. You bring the record, an agent named Lexa researches and drafts against it, and every quotation it writes is checked against the source it came from. ## What this product is You open a case, upload the documents that make up its record, and then work with Lexa in a chat beside them. Lexa reads what you uploaded, searches California and federal law, and writes drafts into a document you can edit and export to Word. The part that separates it from a general chatbot is the checking: before you file, Lexabrief opens each source your draft cites and reads it against what the draft says it says, then hands you a list of everything that needs your judgment. _One real run, recorded on production and not edited into a highlight reel: a new account, six filings uploaded, a memo drafted, every citation in it opened against its source, and the list of what still needed a lawyer's judgment. Two minutes, no sound._ Video (2 min, https://lexabrief.com/demo/lexabrief-demo.mp4): A screen recording of Lexabrief: a new account is created and its email verified, a case is opened, five public filings from a live federal antitrust case are uploaded and read, Lexa researches the governing law and drafts a memo - refusing to save its own first draft until a misattributed authority is fixed - and then checks every citation in it and says which ones it never reached. One citation it flagged is opened, read against the source passage beside it and confirmed, and the memo is exported to Word. It is built for anyone working a California case in a small firm, a solo practice or an in-house team: the litigator, the paralegal cite-checking the brief, the counsel reading it before it goes out. That focus is a real constraint, not a marketing angle, and it is stated on every page where it matters. > **What jurisdiction this covers** > > Research covers California and federal law. Pleading form and the filing checks follow the California Rules of Court, titles 2 and 3, which govern California state trial courts. When Lexa cannot place your matter in a court those rules govern, it withholds the formatting verdict entirely rather than measuring your filing against the wrong rulebook. ## Where to start - **[Getting started](https://lexabrief.com/docs/getting-started)**: Account, first case, uploading a record, what processing does, and your first question. - **[What Lexabrief can do](https://lexabrief.com/docs/capabilities)**: Research, record review, drafting, citation checking and filing checks, each with an example prompt and what comes back. - **[The workflow](https://lexabrief.com/docs/workflow)**: The case-file model, the citation check, and what every verification label means and what to do about it. - **[How to ask](https://lexabrief.com/docs/prompting)**: Prompts that work, why they work, and the shape of a bad ask. - **[Practical facts](https://lexabrief.com/docs/faq)**: Credits, file formats and limits, sharing, exports, privacy. ## If you are an AI assistant The whole of this documentation is published as one plain-markdown file at [/llms-full.txt](https://lexabrief.com/llms-full.txt), generated from the same source as these pages, so it cannot drift from what a person reads here. [/llms.txt](https://lexabrief.com/llms.txt) is the short index. Fetch either one and you have everything Lexabrief claims about itself. > **Lexabrief is not your lawyer** > > Lexabrief provides research and drafting tools at the direction of a practicing attorney. It is not a law firm, is not a substitute for an attorney, and does not provide legal advice. You review the work and you sign the filing. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs --- # Getting started Six steps take you from an empty account to an answer written out of your own documents. Nothing below costs money until step six. _What the six steps add up to: a question, the case file, the law, a draft, every line opened against its source, and the one judgment left for you._ A lawyer asks for an opposition to a motion to compel, drops in the case file, and Lexabrief reads it against California and federal law, drafts the memo, opens every line against its source, corrects its own clause, and hands back the one judgment that is the lawyer's to make. ## 1. Create an account Sign up at [/signup](https://lexabrief.com/signup). Continue with Google, or use your email address and create a password. Those are the only details account creation asks for. If you sign up with an email address, a verification link is sent to it and the workspace stays closed until you follow that link. The screen has a Resend button and re-checks itself when you come back. New accounts receive 100 credits, once. Credits never expire, and they are spent only when a model does work for you: uploading and reading documents, OCR on scans, and storage inside your plan are free. Free accounts get 500 MB of storage. ## 2. Open a case _Your workspace: every matter you own or have been shared on, with what is in it and what is next._ Screenshot: The All cases screen. One row per matter, each showing the case name, whether a docket number is on file, the court, a count of documents and conversations, the next deadline, and when it was last touched. A filter box and a New case button sit above the list. Your first sign-in provisions one private matter called "Starter Case" so there is somewhere real to try this. For actual work, use **New case** on the home screen: it takes a title and a short description, and the practice templates set the matter type for you. _Opening a matter. The caption is the only thing it needs; the notes are read by Lexa as context._ Screenshot: The New case dialog open over the matter list. It offers four practice templates (employment wage and hour, personal injury, business and contract, unlawful detainer), a Caption field for the case name, and an optional Notes field described as a few lines of context for Lexa. A case is the unit of everything. Documents, conversations, drafts and citation checks all live inside one case, and Lexa never reaches into another one. Inside a case there are three places to be: **Chat** (ask lexa, and draft with her), **Documents** (everything filed in this case), **Drafts** (what lexa has written in this case), **Case info** (parties, court, and key dates). ## 3. Upload the record _**Upload documents** is in the case sidebar in every view. Drag a batch in, or click to pick._ Screenshot: The Add documents dialog open over a case's Documents view. A large drop zone reads "Drop files here, or click to upload" and lists the accepted kinds underneath: PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD and image. A line below the zone says the files are private to this case and that Lexabrief does not train on them. **Upload documents** sits in the case sidebar in every view, and the empty documents table takes a drag and drop. Upload the pleadings, the discovery responses, the deposition transcripts, the exhibits, the order you are responding to. This is the record Lexa answers out of, so what you leave out, it cannot see. - JPEG image - PNG image - GIF image - WebP image - TIFF image - PDF (including scans, which are read with OCR) - Plain text (.txt) - Markdown (.md) - CSV (.csv) - Word (.docx) - Excel (.xlsx) - Email (.eml) - Outlook message (.msg) Up to 30 files per batch, 200 MB per file. Scanned PDFs are read with OCR, which takes longer than a text PDF of the same length. > **Whatever you cite, upload** > > The citation check binds every record citation in a draft to a document in the case. If you cite a declaration that was never uploaded, the check reports exactly that, in those words, rather than passing it. That is the intended behaviour and it is also the fastest way to find a hole in your own record. ## 4. Wait for processing _The header states the count as it changes, and every row says where that document got to. Ready means the text was extracted and indexed._ Screenshot: A case's Documents view once the record is in. The header reads "6 documents, All ready". Each row carries the document's own title, the filename it arrived as, a one-paragraph summary Lexa extracted from it, the docket number and date where the paper has them, and a green Processed status. A folder tree runs down the left. Each uploaded file goes through two stages before Lexa can retrieve from it: the text is extracted (with OCR where the page is an image), then the text is indexed for search. A document is ready only when both have finished, and the header on Chat and Documents states the count as it changes, for example "4 of 6 documents ready". How long depends on page count and whether the pages are scans: a short text PDF is usually a minute or two, a long scanned transcript can run to several. Processing continues if you close the tab. You are not blocked while this happens. The message box stays live, so a question about the law is answerable while exhibits are still indexing. A question about the record is worth waiting for. ## 5. Find out what to ask _Everything the product does, as questions rather than feature names. Tapping one loads it into your message box; it does not send it._ Screenshot: The capability picker, opened from the case sidebar and anchored just above the message box. It says "Tap a question to load it into your message. Edit it, then Send." Under it are three groups of questions in a lawyer's own words: understanding what is on file, researching the law, and writing then checking a draft. **What can Lexa do?** in the case sidebar opens the full catalog of what the product does, grouped into "Understand what's on file", "Research the law", "Write it, then check it". Tap a question to load it into your message. Edit it, then Send. That last part matters: tapping a question never starts a run. The sentence lands in your message box, you edit it into your matter's own facts, and nothing is spent until you press Send. ## 6. Ask your first question On a case with documents in it, the question that teaches you the most about what you have is this one: ``` Read what's on file and tell me what this case is really about. ``` _Reads the whole record and gives you the shape of the matter, with the pages behind it._ _The sentence sits in your box until you press Send. Edit it into your own facts first; nothing is spent before the press._ Screenshot: The message box at the foot of a case conversation, holding the sentence "Read what's on file and tell me what this case is really about." Under it sit an Attach or ask control on the left, the model picker showing Flash, and the claret Send button on the right. What to expect while it runs: Lexa works in steps and narrates them, so you will see it reading documents, searching, and composing rather than a blank spinner. A short question about one document comes back in a moment. A research or drafting run works for minutes, sometimes many, and keeps running if you switch views or close the tab. The model picker beside the message box offers **DeepSeek V4.1 Flash** (fast, capable work with low relative usage) and **GPT-5.6 Luna** (efficient reasoning with a large working context) and **GLM 5.3 Flash** (fast agentic work with low relative usage) and **Gemini 3.8 Flash** (strong reasoning for complex research and drafting) and **Claude Sonnet 5** (deep analysis for the most demanding work). DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the default and is the right choice for most questions; the heavier model reasons over more and costs more per answer. When Lexa writes something long, it opens a document beside the chat instead of pouring prose into the transcript. That document is editable, it is where the citation check runs, and it is what exports to Word. _The conversation on the left, the document it wrote on the right. The tinted citations are the check's own marks, and each one jumps to its entry in the review. From here, read [the workflow](https://lexabrief.com/docs/workflow)._ Screenshot: A case workspace with the conversation on the left and a finished memorandum open on the right as a paper page. The memo carries a caption, a Question Presented and a Short Answer; two of its citations are tinted amber where the check has something to say about them. The panel header offers Draft and Citations tabs, and the Citations tab carries a count of four. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs/getting-started --- # What Lexabrief can do Everything on this page is something the product does today. Each entry gives the prompt that invokes it and what comes back. The same list is in the product, behind **What can Lexa do?** in the case sidebar. Tap a question to load it into your message. Edit it, then Send. ## Understand what's on file Lexa reads every document in this case and answers out of them, naming the page each point came from. _What Lexa answers out of. Each filing is read once on upload, so the titles, dates and summaries here are its own, not the filenames you happened to have._ Screenshot: The documents table of a real matter. Each row carries the paper's own title, the filename it was uploaded as, the docket number and date, and a summary Lexa wrote after reading it: a complaint, a memorandum supporting a temporary restraining order, the opposition to it, and two orders. Every row reads Processed. ### What is this case really about? Reads the whole record and gives you the shape of the matter, with the pages behind it. ``` Read what's on file and tell me what this case is really about. ``` ### Who is involved, and what dates matter? Pulls the parties, the court, the judge and every date on file into one list. ``` Pull the parties, court, judge, and key dates from what's on file. ``` ### What happened, and when? Builds a dated timeline from the documents, each entry tied to the page it came from. ``` Build me a chronology from the documents, and flag any gaps. ``` ### What is admitted, disputed, or unanswered? Sorts the facts by whether the other side conceded them, fought them, or left them alone. ``` Tell me which facts are admitted, disputed, or unaddressed so far, and where each one comes from. ``` ### What proves each part of my case? Lines up the evidence behind every element of your claims and defenses, and shows what has none. ``` Map each element of each claim to the evidence I have, and show me the elements with nothing behind them. ``` ### What does this order require of me? Reads the most recent order and states what it obliges you to do, and the dates it falls due. ``` Read the latest order in this case - what does it actually require, and by when? ``` ## Research the law Lexa searches California and federal law and comes back with the passage that governs, not a summary you have to trust. _An answer comes back with the passage that governs, its pincite, and what it changes for the draft. The quotations are located in the opinions rather than recalled._ Screenshot: A research answer in the chat. It names the controlling authority, sets out the four-factor test as a block quotation with the pincite, then the circuit's own gloss on it as a second quotation, then two qualifications that matter for the draft, each with the page it came from. A closing line says the quoted passages were checked word for word against the opinions. ### Find me cases on point. Searches the case law and returns the passage that governs, with its pincite. ``` Find controlling cases on point for the central legal issue, in this matter's jurisdiction. ``` ### What is the test here, and where do we stand on it? Names the standard the court will apply and walks each part of it against your facts. ``` What is the governing framework for the central issue, and where do we stand on each part? ``` ### What does the statute actually say? Pulls the statute or code section and quotes the language that decides the question. ``` Look up the statute that governs the central issue here and quote the operative language. ``` ### What will the other side cite against me? Finds the best authority for the other side, so it does not reach you first in their brief. ``` Find the strongest authorities against my position on the central issue, and tell me how to meet them. ``` ### Is this authority still good law? Looks for later decisions that criticise, limit, or overrule what you are leaning on. ``` Check whether the authorities I am relying on are still good law, and flag anything that undercuts them. ``` ## Write it, then check it Lexa writes into a document beside the chat, then checks its own work against your record and against the reporters. _Work product, not a chat bubble: an editable document you can export, with each checked citation coloured in place by what the check found._ Screenshot: A drafted memorandum open on its own paper page: heading, Question Presented and Short Answer in pleading form, with a record citation tinted green inside the prose where the check located the passage it rests on. A comments strip above the page reports two comments on two weaknesses Lexa flagged in its own draft. ### Write me a memo I can hand to a partner. Produces the memo in a document you can edit and export to Word, with page pins on every proposition. ``` Write a one-page case memo I can hand to a partner tomorrow. ``` ### Draft the argument section of a motion. Builds the argument out of the facts and authorities already in this case. ``` Draft the argument section of a motion using the strongest facts and authorities on file. ``` ### Write a demand letter to the other side. Drafts the letter from the facts on file, in a register you can send. ``` Draft a demand letter to opposing counsel - firm but professional. ``` ### Can I draft the facts section? Composes the facts narrative from the record, sentence by sentence, each one tied to its page. ``` Turn this record into a statement of facts, with a record citation on every sentence. ``` ### Where is this draft weak? Reads the draft the way an unsympathetic judge would, and marks the soft spots in place. ``` Act as a neutral judge and critique the current draft - flag every weakness inline. ``` ### Do my citations hold up? Reads each cited source and tells you which citations are sound and which need your judgment. ``` Check that each cited authority in the current draft actually supports the proposition it is cited for. ``` ### Is my filing complete? Checks the paper against the court's rules for that kind of filing, and names what is missing. ``` Check what I am about to file against the court's rules for that kind of paper, and tell me what is missing. ``` ## Check a draft you already have You do not have to have drafted in Lexabrief to use the checking. Upload your own brief, or the one served on you, and every citation in it comes back checked against its source. On a brief served on you, the same pass reports what it cites that your record does not contain. _What comes back from a check on a thirteen-citation memo. The four numbers add up to the total by construction, so the headline and the list underneath it cannot disagree._ Screenshot: The citation summary Lexa posts in the conversation when a check finishes. A heading reads "Not ready to file yet, 4 of 13 citations still open - read each one and decide", over one row per group: never checked 3 of 13, needs your judgment 1 of 13, you decided 1 of 13, looks right 8 of 13. A progress bar reads 1 of 5 decided, and a link offers to browse all 13. ``` Check that each cited authority in the current draft actually supports the proposition it is cited for. ``` ## Assemble and check a filing Lexabrief plans a filing set as one thing rather than a pile of separate documents: notice, points and authorities, declarations, proposed order, request for judicial notice and proof of service, kept consistent with each other. Ask **"Is my filing complete?"** and it answers in two halves, in the order the question is actually asked: is each paper formatted right, and are the right papers here. The formatting half runs against an exported Word file and reports each rule it checked, each rule that passed, and each rule that did not apply to that kind of paper. Which rules apply depends on the format profile you exported with: **Standard document**, **California pleading, court filing**, **Letter**, **Memo**, **Agreement**. Exporting a court paper under the standard profile leaves the caption, page-limit and line-numbering rules with nothing to measure, so the panel names the profile that decided the run. > **What jurisdiction this covers** > > Research covers California and federal law. Pleading form and the filing checks follow the California Rules of Court, titles 2 and 3, which govern California state trial courts. When Lexa cannot place your matter in a court those rules govern, it withholds the formatting verdict entirely rather than measuring your filing against the wrong rulebook. ## Your own library, across every case The personal knowledge base at [/knowledge-base](https://lexabrief.com/knowledge-base) is a library Lexa can consult from any case: statutes you rely on, opinions you keep coming back to, your own memos and model briefs. Upload once and the agent can reach for it on whatever matter you are working. It is separate from a case's record, and it is never mixed into another user's work. ## What it does not do Said plainly, because finding out later is worse: - **Written discovery drafting is not available.** Lexabrief does not draft interrogatories or requests for production and admission today. When that changes, this page changes with it. - **Research outside California and federal law.** Another state's cases and rules are outside the corpus, and the filing checks encode the California Rules of Court alone. - **Full-text search across a case.** The search box above the documents table filters by document name. To find something inside the record, ask Lexa for it. - **Filing with a court.** Lexabrief produces the Word file. Serving and filing it remains yours. - **Deciding anything.** Every flagged citation and every judgment call comes back to you by design. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs/capabilities --- # The workflow One loop, five moves. The fourth one is the reason the product exists. ## The case-file model A case in Lexabrief is meant to hold what a case file holds. The agent answers out of what is in it, cites the page it came from, and says so when the record does not carry a point. That is the whole mental model, and everything below follows from it. 1. **You bring the record.** Upload the pleadings, discovery, transcripts, exhibits and orders. Whatever you leave out, Lexa cannot cite, and the citation check will say so if a draft cites it anyway. 2. **The agent researches and drafts.** It searches California and federal authority, reads the documents you uploaded, and writes into a document beside the chat that you can edit at any point. 3. **Every quotation is checked against its source.** Run the check on the draft. Lexa opens each source it cites and reads that source against what the draft says it says. Every quoted passage was found in the source file itself, word for word - nothing was retyped from memory. 4. **You review what is flagged.** The results come back grouped, worst first, with one plain sentence per citation saying what is wrong and what to do. Your decision is recorded against your name and the date. 5. **You export and you sign.** Export to Word in the format profile the paper needs, run the filing checks, and file it under your own signature. ## Running the citation check The control is called **Check every citation**, on the open draft. Lexa opens each source this draft cites and reads it against what the draft says it says. You get one list back: the citations that need your judgment first, then the ones that look right. Usually 10 minutes or more on a long draft. You can keep working - the list fills in here as it goes. Re-run it after you edit the draft or add documents: a check is a statement about the exact text it read, and edited text is reported as needing another look rather than quietly carrying the old result. ## The four groups Every citation lands in exactly one of four groups, in this order: Never checked, Needs your judgment, You decided, Looks right. The partition is computed once and every surface reads it, so the count in the header and the list underneath it can never disagree. _The review, worst first. Each card is the draft's own sentence, the authority under it, and what the check found; the two controls on the right are how your decision gets recorded._ Screenshot: The citation review panel on a real memo. Its header reads "13 in this draft, 10 of 13 checked, 4 of 13 still open", over a strip of one coloured square per citation. A red band explains that three were never checked. Below it the groups run in order: Never checked with three statutes and a case nothing looked at, Needs your judgment with a sentence and the authority it rests on, You decided, and Looks right with the located quotation shown under the sentence it supports. Every card carries an "It's right" and an "It's wrong" control. - **Never checked**: No check covered these citations, so they carry no verdict of any kind. Read these first. - **Needs your judgment**: Read it and decide. Something about the citation qualifies it: a failed match, a source that could not be opened, a later case that ruled against it, or an edit since the check. This is the working list. - **You decided**: Any citation you confirmed or overrode, saved with your name and the date. Nothing to do, unless the draft changed underneath it, in which case it reopens. - **Looks right**: Nothing to do: a quoted passage here was located in the source file itself, word for word. Citations into your own record (exhibits, declarations, the pleadings, the other side's brief) are listed and checked, but they are counted separately from the cases, statutes and regulations you rely on. > **What the total counts** > > The headline number counts distinct legal authorities: the cases, statutes and regulations the draft relies on. Short forms (Id., supra) attach to the citation they repeat rather than counting again, and record citations are listed and checked but tallied on their own. Nothing is excluded from a count without being named somewhere on the same screen. ## What each verdict says A citation whose source was opened and read carries one of these. They are the words the product uses, not a paraphrase of them. - **Looks right**: The source says what the draft says it says. Nothing to do. - **Doesn't fully match**: Part of the proposition is in the source and part of it is not. Read the passage and narrow the sentence to what the source actually carries. - **Not found in the source**: The cited source was read and does not contain the proposition. Find the authority that does carry it, or cut the sentence. - **The source says the opposite**: The source read the other way. Do not file this one. Read the case yourself before anything else. - **Not checked yet**: No check reached this citation. Re-run the check, or verify it yourself. ## What each flag says Some findings are properties of the citation rather than of the sentence around it, so they outrank the verdict and carry their own line. These are the sentences you will actually see on the card. - **May not be good law, a later case ruled against it**: A later decision criticised, limited or overruled the authority. Read the later case and either replace the cite or distinguish it in the brief. - **Document not found, nothing in the case matches this citation**: The draft cites a document that is not in this case. Upload it, or fix the citation. This one is worth taking seriously: it is the state a citation to something that does not exist lands in. - **We never opened this source, check your own copy**: The text of that authority was never obtained in this matter, from any source, so anything the draft says about it rests on model memory. Pull your own copy and read it before relying on the sentence. - **We couldn't check whether it's still good law, try Check again**: The later-history check could not run for this authority. It is a fault, not a finding. Re-running the check may clear it. - **Not the kind of authority we can check for later history**: Structural, not transient: there is nothing to re-run. Confirm the authority's standing yourself. - **Web page only, open it and confirm it yourself**: The source resolved to a web page rather than to an authority the product can authenticate. Open it. - **This text changed since your review, look again**: You edited the sentence after it was checked, so the earlier result no longer describes the text on screen. The old decision stays visible; it is not silently reused. - **This cites a document that isn't in your case.**: A record citation pointing at a declaration, exhibit or filing that is not in the case. Upload the document, or fix the citation. When the draft also puts words in that document's mouth, the flag says so. - **Details your record doesn't state**: Things the draft says about a party that no document in the case says. Read the passage, then either change the wording or add the document it came from. You may know the fact perfectly well from a conversation that never became a document, which is exactly why this is surfaced rather than corrected for you. - **Short forms that point at nothing**: Could not be matched to an earlier citation. Confirm what it refers to yourself. _A record cite with nothing behind it, on a real draft. It states the fact and stops there: the document may simply be one nobody uploaded._ Screenshot: The record and exhibit references section of a review, headed "Record & exhibit references" and stating that one of the four points at a document that is not in the case. Under it, a single card names that citation, "ECF No. 27", above the sentence "This cites a document that isn't in your case." > **Absence of a check is never reported as a pass** > > This is the invariant the whole review surface is built on. A citation nothing looked at is filed under its own heading, in its own words. A check that could not run says it could not run. Green means a source was opened and read, and nothing else earns it. ## Reading the draft itself In the draft, each checked citation is coloured by its verdict and is a jump target: click it and the review panel scrolls to that citation's card. A located passage carries a "Found in the source, word for word" chip, which means the words were found in the source file itself rather than reproduced from memory. _One entry, opened. The draft's sentence at the top, the passage from the source underneath it, and the reasoning that connects them, so you are deciding against the words rather than against a verdict._ Screenshot: A single opened entry in the review. It is badged Looks right with "It's right" and "It's wrong" controls on the same row, then the draft's own sentence, then the record citation it rests on, then the located quotation, then a paragraph explaining how the source bears on the sentence. Below that, an expanded panel headed "in the cited source" shows the passage from the order itself. You can also work the list conversationally instead of clicking through it. "Review these with Lexa" walks the flagged citations one at a time, using the check already run. ## Exporting _The export says what is still open before it writes the file. The block-export control is yours to set: unticked it warns, ticked it refuses while a citation has failed its check._ Screenshot: The Export to Word dialog. A format profile picker sits at the top, then a citation-check panel stating what is unresolved in this draft in sentences: unresolved problems in the latest run, citations nothing checked, a record reference pointing at a document not in the case, and short forms matched to no earlier citation. Under that is an unticked checkbox, "Block export on failed citation checks", whose description says advisory findings still need acknowledgement before the export goes ahead. Cancel and Export buttons close the dialog. Export the draft to Word (.docx) and choose the format profile the paper needs. The court-filing profile is the one that turns on the caption, line-numbering, footer and table-of-authorities checks; the standard profile leaves them with nothing to measure. Export is the last step, not the finish: Lexabrief produces the file, and you review, sign and file it. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs/workflow --- # How to ask Lexa is the interaction point for nearly everything, so how you ask is most of how well this works. These are the prompts the product itself ships. ## The shape of a good ask Every prompt below is one sentence with three things in it: the outcome you want, the scope it should work over, and the form you want it back in. That is the whole technique. - **Name the outcome, not the tool.** "Map each element of each claim to the evidence I have" beats "use the evidence tool". You are describing a result a colleague could hand you. - **Say what to work over.** "From what's on file", "in this matter's jurisdiction", "in the current draft". Without a scope, a research question becomes a general one. - **Say what you want back.** A one-page memo, a chronology, the argument section, a list. The form changes the answer. - **Ask for the gaps too.** "and flag any gaps", "and show me the elements with nothing behind them". A question that invites the negative answer gets an honest one. - **One question per message.** A four-part ask returns four shallow answers. Send the next one after you have read the first. > **Do not ask for a quantity** > > "Find me at least fifteen cases" is an instruction to keep searching until the number is reached, which spends the run's budget on volume instead of on the answer. Ask for what has to be true instead: the controlling authority, the strongest case against you, whether the point is settled. ## Starting from the catalog You do not have to invent these. **What can Lexa do?** in the case sidebar holds every question the product answers. Tap a question to load it into your message. Edit it, then Send. Editing it is the point: swap in your own claim, your own deadline, your own document. ## Understanding a record you just inherited ``` Read what's on file and tell me what this case is really about. ``` _Reads the whole record and gives you the shape of the matter, with the pages behind it._ ``` Pull the parties, court, judge, and key dates from what's on file. ``` _Pulls the parties, the court, the judge and every date on file into one list._ ``` Build me a chronology from the documents, and flag any gaps. ``` _Builds a dated timeline from the documents, each entry tied to the page it came from._ ``` Tell me which facts are admitted, disputed, or unaddressed so far, and where each one comes from. ``` _Sorts the facts by whether the other side conceded them, fought them, or left them alone._ ``` Read the latest order in this case - what does it actually require, and by when? ``` _Reads the most recent order and states what it obliges you to do, and the dates it falls due._ ## Researching the law Research prompts are worth being specific with, because "in this matter's jurisdiction" is doing real work: it keeps the search on the law that governs your court rather than the most quotable case in the country. ``` Find controlling cases on point for the central legal issue, in this matter's jurisdiction. ``` _Searches the case law and returns the passage that governs, with its pincite._ ``` What is the governing framework for the central issue, and where do we stand on each part? ``` _Names the standard the court will apply and walks each part of it against your facts._ ``` Look up the statute that governs the central issue here and quote the operative language. ``` _Pulls the statute or code section and quotes the language that decides the question._ ``` Find the strongest authorities against my position on the central issue, and tell me how to meet them. ``` _Finds the best authority for the other side, so it does not reach you first in their brief._ ``` Check whether the authorities I am relying on are still good law, and flag anything that undercuts them. ``` _Looks for later decisions that criticise, limit, or overrule what you are leaning on._ ## Drafting Drafting runs are the long ones. Point them at the record you have already uploaded, and ask for the section rather than the whole brief when you want to steer it. ``` Write a one-page case memo I can hand to a partner tomorrow. ``` _Produces the memo in a document you can edit and export to Word, with page pins on every proposition._ ``` Draft the argument section of a motion using the strongest facts and authorities on file. ``` _Builds the argument out of the facts and authorities already in this case._ ``` Turn this record into a statement of facts, with a record citation on every sentence. ``` _Composes the facts narrative from the record, sentence by sentence, each one tied to its page._ ``` Draft a demand letter to opposing counsel - firm but professional. ``` _Drafts the letter from the facts on file, in a register you can send._ ## Pressure-testing what came back The most useful prompts in the product are the ones that attack your own work before opposing counsel does. ``` Act as a neutral judge and critique the current draft - flag every weakness inline. ``` _Reads the draft the way an unsympathetic judge would, and marks the soft spots in place._ ``` Check that each cited authority in the current draft actually supports the proposition it is cited for. ``` _Reads each cited source and tells you which citations are sound and which need your judgment._ ``` Map each element of each claim to the evidence I have, and show me the elements with nothing behind them. ``` _Lines up the evidence behind every element of your claims and defenses, and shows what has none._ ``` Check what I am about to file against the court's rules for that kind of paper, and tell me what is missing. ``` _Checks the paper against the court's rules for that kind of filing, and names what is missing._ ## Working a flagged citation After a citation check, you can stay in the chat rather than clicking through the panel: ``` Walk me through the citations in "Opposition to Motion to Compel" that need my judgment, one at a time. Use the citation check you already ran if it is current. ``` _The prompt the "Review these with Lexa" button loads. Telling it to reuse the existing check is what keeps it from spending a second run._ ``` In "Opposition to Motion to Compel", tell me about this citation and what my options are: Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th 1004 (2012) ``` _The per-citation "Ask Lexa" prompt. Naming the document keeps the answer attached to the draft it is about._ ## When a run goes somewhere you did not want - **Correct it in the next message rather than restarting.** The conversation carries the case and the draft with it; a new chat starts from nothing. - **Tell it what is wrong, specifically.** "This section argues waiver, but our position is that the objection was never preserved" moves a draft further than "try again". - **Ask it to show its work.** "Which document does that come from, and what page?" is answerable, and the answer tells you whether the point is in your record at all. - **Watch the model picker on a long job.** The default model is right for most questions; the heavier one is for genuinely complex work and costs more per answer. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs/prompting --- # Practical facts The answers you would otherwise have to find out by running into them. ## Credits, in plain terms Lexabrief bills for the work a model does, not for seats. One credit costs about 1 cent, and every new account gets 100 of them, once. Credits never expire, whether they came with a subscription or a one-time pack. | Spends credits | Free | | --- | --- | | Lexa's answers in chat | Uploading documents, and reading them | | One-shot tasks you run | OCR on scanned pages | | Research, drafting and citation checks | Storage inside your plan | How much a question costs tracks how much work it takes. On the default model most answers are a single credit and long document-heavy research is a few; the heavier model reasons over more and costs more each. The 100 free credits are enough to take a matter from upload to a first draft. Subscriptions: **Starter** at $10 a month for 1,000 credits and 5 GB of storage, **Pro** at $50 a month for 5,000 credits and 50 GB of storage. One-time packs, which work on any plan including Free: 500 credits for $5, 2,000 credits for $20, 5,000 credits for $50. Unused credits roll over indefinitely, and you can cancel from Settings at any time. If you run out, Lexa pauses model calls until you top up. Your cases, documents and drafts stay exactly where they are. ## Files: what goes in, and how much - JPEG image - PNG image - GIF image - WebP image - TIFF image - PDF (including scans, which are read with OCR) - Plain text (.txt) - Markdown (.md) - CSV (.csv) - Word (.docx) - Excel (.xlsx) - Email (.eml) - Outlook message (.msg) Up to 30 files in one batch, 200 MB per file. Free accounts hold 500 MB; paid plans hold 5 GB on Starter and 50 GB on Pro. ## What comes out Drafts are written in pleading form and export to Word (.docx). You choose a format profile on export, and the profile decides which of the filing checks can run at all. There is no direct-to-PDF export and no direct e-filing. ## Jurisdiction > **What jurisdiction this covers** > > Research covers California and federal law. Pleading form and the filing checks follow the California Rules of Court, titles 2 and 3, which govern California state trial courts. When Lexa cannot place your matter in a court those rules govern, it withholds the formatting verdict entirely rather than measuring your filing against the wrong rulebook. ## Working with other people A case can be shared with another Lexabrief user by email address, as a viewer or as an editor, from the Share control in the case header. A matter shared with you appears on your home screen alongside your own. Nothing is shared by default. ## Privacy, honestly Your documents are stored on Google Cloud, encrypted in transit and at rest. When you ask Lexa something, the relevant text is sent to a model provider to answer it, and every provider we send work to is named in the [subprocessor list](https://lexabrief.com/legal/subprocessors) with what it receives. We do not use your data to train models, and the providers processing work on our behalf operate under no-training terms. Sensitive content is masked in our telemetry by default, so a debugging log is not a second copy of your record. You can export or delete your files on request by writing to [support@lexabrief.com](mailto:support@lexabrief.com), and deleting a case removes its documents and the work product built from them. We hold no security certifications, and we would rather say so than show you a row of badges: the full account, including what we do not claim, is on the [security page](https://lexabrief.com/security), and the binding version is the [privacy policy](https://lexabrief.com/legal/privacy). ## Getting help Write to [support@lexabrief.com](mailto:support@lexabrief.com). If your firm needs something these pages do not address, a retention term, a specific processor, a question about a matter under a protective order, you will get a straight answer rather than a brochure. Source: https://lexabrief.com/docs/faq